Fort Lee, N.J. Mayor Mark Sokolich, a key figure in the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandal, is no longer speaking to the media, his office told TPM on Monday.
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“He’s spoken to the press and he’s said what he’s had to say at this point,” a woman who answered the phone at the mayor’s office told TPM.
Asked when the mayor might speak to the media again, the woman replied, “[not] until he’s ready, or something dictates that he has to or that he needs to.”
Democrats in New Jersey have for months argued that the lane closures, which caused a massive, multi-day traffic jam in Fort Lee in September, were retaliation against Sokolich, a Democrat who declined to endorse Christie’s re-election bid last year.
Following the release last week of documents tying the lane closures to senior members of Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) administration, Sokolich met privately with the governor. He also spoke to a number of media outlets to tell his side of the story. While he initially said he could not remember ever having a discussion with Christie people about an endorsement, Sokolich told The New York Times over the weekend that in fact a Christie re-election campaign staff member contacted him last spring to talk to see if he would endorse the governor.
